Suited Connectors

[barbarella41]

Hi playrs,

I need your advice again. I´m wondering how you play suited connectors in tournaments, because I actually don´t have a clue.

At what stage of a tournament should you play them and at what blind level?

I only play them at the early stage of a tournament with a low blind level in an unraised pot with at least 5 people in it (for the implied pot odds :)).

I really would like to know how you play these kind of hands in tournaments.

Looking forward to read your answers :)

[Buldermar]

Lets first make a definition of suited connectors: Any 2 connected or partly connected suited cards below T. I don't consider AKs and QKs as suited connectors in this situation as there is other things to take into consideration when playing this type of hand.
There isn't a rule of when to play suited connectors. However, there is some things you should take into consideration before playing them:

1) How many BB's do you/the opponents in the pot have left? Ís it worth it compared to the size of your stack you are risking playing this type of hand?

2) If you are deep enough, will your opponent(s) be loose enough to pay you off when you hit or have a good enough hand (AA, KK, QQ etc.) to pay you off when you hit?

2b) Defining your opponents hand. Are you actually able to define your opponents hand? I would always prefer being up against AA with 89suited rather than being up against 9Tsuited. Why? You can lose a lot of money against 9Tsuited but you can usually either lose only a little money or win a lot against AA. You have to be willing to fold a flopped top pair to a raise on the flop if you play this type of hands. You have to take into consideration that your kicker will be useless.


3) Table image. Playing this type of hand obviously affects your image. There isn't a reason to think that a loose image is bad, but you have to take this into consideration as well

4) Preflop action/Deception. Remember, if you sometimes raise and sometimes limp you will have to sometimes raise with weak hands and sometimes limp with strong hands. Never, ever, ever be predictable. Do not raise accordingly to the strenght of your hand!

5) Risk/Reward analysis. I know many people prefer playing suited connectors at the early stages. I prefer playing them at late stages due to the fact that pick up not only the blinds but also the antes if my opponents folds to my raise (I rarely limp). My philosophy is to raise with more hands when you pick up more compared to what you risk. Also, people tend to tighten up at late stages because of the ladder principal (you get more money the deeper you get). This means it is sometimes possible to steal with 2.5x BB raises even when antes are on!

6) You position. I always prefer having position. I dont mind reraising with 67suited on the button because it gives me a chance to pick up the pot right now and if one of my opponents call 67suited will be the last hand he expects me to have so IF i get a call I can either easily get away from the hand or win a lot against my opponents high pocket pair.

I probably forgot a ton of things to take into consideration. I hope this gives you an idea of how to decide whether to play or fold your suited connectors. Try to experiment untill you have found a style you think is profitable. Some players have succes playing a tight/aggresive style. Some players have succes playing a loose/aggresive style. There isn't one right way to play.

good luck & have fun :P

[barbarella41]

WWWoooww buldermar, thanks for that answer, it´s always a pleasure to read your posts, hope I can adjust some of your advices to my play this afternoon.:)

[Degen]

Great post Buldermar

Early in a tournament when the blinds are low relative to the stack sizes is a good time to play them. They are also good for raising and re-raising later in a tournament when you are essentially bluffing, because they give you some good suckout potential when you get caught (instead of a hand like 93o for instance).

Other than that, what Buldermar said

[Slinky]

Well i was going to add some input here but seems Buldermar has it covered!! I like to get in with them cheap in early stages and if they hit.. great! Easy enough to throw away too, like low-mid pockets, get in cheap and often get paid if they hit :)

Deep into tourneys though you dont want to be risking too much with these though IMO.. For the steal and a bluff here and there they are good because like WD says if you get caught there are more outs!

[Buldermar]

Thanks for the positive feedback.

In relation to what WD said, you have to play them accordingly to the structure of the tournament. Most tournaments with a relatively low buy-in (less than $100) blinds will increase relatively fast (each 15min or faster). Therefore, many people will be shortstack and suited connectors will be less attractive in lategame.
However, in the bigger tournaments such as ECOOP on the iPoker network or any bigger tournaments on FullTiltPoker, blinds will increase more slowly. Therefore, the avarage amount of BB (Big Blinds) per player will be higher in the endgame thus making suited connectors much more attractive. Also, if you are playing relatively cheap tournaments on the iPoker network, there wont be any antes at all and suited connectors will (obviously) be most attractive in the early game when blinds are, as WD said, low compared to chip stacks.

Summary: The structure of the tournament plays a role.

[Danielle Angel]

What about in cash games ? I love suited connectors like 78D in them :) Any advice on playing them ? Same theory ?? get in cheap etc etc ???

[Buldermar]

I think suited connectors generally are much more playable in cash game due to the fact that people usually got more BB's. You can even reraise with 7d8d-kind of hands. I almost always prefer to reraise. You:
- Define your opponents hand (he is not calling with A9off)
- Give yourself a chance to pick up the pot right now
- Represent strenght
Furthermore, even if he does call you will either win a BIG pot or lose a small one due to the fact that you now know you probably need at least 2 pair or a good draw. 7d8d is a great hand to break aces with :P

Lets take an example:
I'm on the button with 7d8d. Blinds are 1$/2$ on a 9handed table. A late pos raises to 6$. I decide to reraise, making it 18$. SB and BB folds and the late pos raiser calls 12$ more.
The pot is now 39$. We both got around 180$ left.
Flop comes 6dTsQd.
He opens with a 20$ bet which is pretty much half the pot. Standard continuationbet on a flop like this.
I put him on a big PP, AQ or AK. The only hand I'm really afraid of is QQ and even against that hand I'm not in terrible shape. I can put SO much preasure on him. If I raise to 55$ or 60$ he will know that he will probably be facing a big bet on the turn if he checks. He is out of position so he pretty much have to give up the hand or push it all-in. There is a great chance that he will give up AQ and he will almost certainly give up AK. I represented strenght preflop and I represented strenght on the flop. Even if he does push all-in I got 13outs.

Now, this is ofc. a dreamflop. Most of the time you will miss the flop and you will have to fold your hand. I like making the same play with small pocket pairs. When deciding to make your play or not to, there is certain things you have to pay attention to:

- Is the raiser a tight/aggressive player? Then just give up or call. There is no reason to reraise if you know he will just push it all-in. If he is a loose player who raises a lot of pots, it's such a great strategy.

- Position. It is SO important to have position with this type of hand. I always prefer making this move from the button or at least from late position. Generally speaking you should always try to play the big pots when you have position.

- Your table image. Due to the fact that I sometimes raise with hands like these, I often just fold weak aces like A9. They really suck when you're deepstack. I'm playing tight preflop but I'm reraising a lot when I decide to play a pot. I make the exact same play with AA or KK. This is how I get action on my big hands. If you like raising a lot to steal the blinds in a cash game you should probably be a bit more careful and maybe not try this strategy. I find it much more valueable to pick my spots and put in a reraise.

- Stack sizes. Do not try this if you or your opponent aren't deep. I think you generally want the pot to represent no more than 1/4 of your stack IF your reraise gets called. You want to be deep enough to get paid off when you hit your big draw or at least be deep enough to put up a lot of preassure.

Summary: Playing cashgame usually give you room to do more creative moves like this. Being deepstack is important.

[Slinky]

Love it Buldermar..great post again :D

[Degen]

- Define your opponents hand (he is not calling with A9off)

While this is true of $2/4 NL+ I don't think we can necessarily say this about the small stakes games, especially $0.25/$0.50 NL and lower. People call raises and re-raises with all kinds of trash.

I do agree though in cash games they are uber-playable. I often call raises or re-raise before the flop with J9s, 57s, 67s etc. You can flop pretty monster and well disguised hands and take the other guys whole stack if they are the type who can't fold top pair or an overpair. And it only costs you a very small investment.

[Danielle Angel]

While this is true of $2/4 NL+ I don't think we can necessarily say this about the small stakes games, especially $0.25/$0.50 NL and lower. People call raises and re-raises with all kinds of trash.


Your not wrong they do !!! :mad:

Every poker book I have read, every piece of advice I have been given tells me this most important point :- Do not go up a level until you are ready.

Consider this :- 25c/50c players call trash trash trash with raise raise raise. THE OTHER DAY i had some nut call my raises till the end with A high only 4 os to go with it (although in this case obviously good for me). I believe if you stay at this level and are a half decent player you are gunna cop a whooping from the trash they call. (At least thats what happened to me this year) .... I have had a few FAIR beats but most of them were absolutely UNBELIEVABLE. Raise to $2.00 and have some moron call you with 49o only to hit 2 pair on the flop making you AK suited useless. (The 9k drunk I posted up is a classic example, CAP CAP CAP every hand just about with trash).

My theory is ..... If you have the bankroll to back up your play and are pretty confident in your game you should not be playing at this level. Your game will be a lot more "certain" at at least $1 stakes. Anything below 25c/50c is really dangerous for a fairly good player. .... Against all poker books which say WAIT I know, but seriously.... play at this level expect to be donked out time and time again. People thrive on it I am sure.... You wont find a 9k drunk capping or going all in almost every hand on a $1 $2 table now would you ? ... Or at least I havnt seen it !!!

[Slinky]

Trust me Danielle there are BIGGER donks at 1/2$ lol...you get them on all levels! You need to adjust your game for the style :)

[Danielle Angel]

Well I guess there are even donks at the WSOP :p so yeah .... no doubt you are right, .... I really needed to let that out though :)

[Slinky]

Yea.. go on have a good old moan!! Makes us feel better hehe :p

[Blobbi-San]

You are quite right Danielle. There is no respect for a decent raise or reraise! Sometimes looks like they are putting money in a slotmachine, the way they play poker. And it's very frustating when you rarely get a good starthand.

[Buldermar]

You can't benefit a lot from an aggressive style playing low stack. I tend to agree with what WD said. I think the strategy works great on 1$/2$ because people are good enough to lay down weak hands preflop to reraises but not good enough to lay down big hands postflop :D

[Sw33z]

very helpfull thread guys !

[Danielle Angel]

I thought so too :) A big welcome to you Sw33z :)

[Matti Doogs]

Great thread guys, I feel the same sometimes as you Danielle the way you get called down because it is really only lunch money they are betting with in the lower stakes, as far as Buldermar's feed, you would have to be the most informed young poker playr I have ever come across and I would be more than happy if you need help to get into a tourney to look at putting some money up as a stake as you seem to understand where it is at. Look forward to reading your future threads.

[Sw33z]

I thought so too :) A big welcome to you Sw33z :)

Thanks a lot :)

I feel like home on this forum , great ! =)

[Mlubin]

i dont play many tournaments but i like to play suited connectors in late position with deeper stacks if i am going to play them.

[Buldermar]

Great thread guys, I feel the same sometimes as you Danielle the way you get called down because it is really only lunch money they are betting with in the lower stakes, as far as Buldermar's feed, you would have to be the most informed young poker playr I have ever come across and I would be more than happy if you need help to get into a tourney to look at putting some money up as a stake as you seem to understand where it is at. Look forward to reading your future threads.

Thank you.. can you stake me to next years WSOP HORSE event? :D oh wait, not old enough.. dmit!